New allegations lodged against man arrested on theft charge

A Pine Bluff man who was arrested last week after stolen checks were alledgedly found in a car he was in was back in court Wednesday to face new allegations.

A Pine Bluff man who was arrested last week after stolen checks were alledgedly found in a car he was in was back in court Wednesday to face new allegations.

Barry Payton, 22, who Deputy Prosecutor Maxie Kizer during a court hearing described as “a career criminal,” was accused of being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Detective Steven Rucker said in a probable cause affidavit that Payton had a magazine from a .40-caliber Glock handgun on him and after the owner of the car gave police permission to search, the gun was found.

Payton and another man, Lamar Simmons, 24, appeared in court Monday after a police officer working off-duty security at an apartment complex on the west side of Pine Bluff saw two men run across the parking lot of the complex and get into an automobile.

When police checked the car, they saw checks and checkbooks in plain sight and when the account holder was contacted, they told police the checks and checkbooks had been stolen from his parked vehicle.

Kizer said Payton has been convicted of 15 prior felonies, is on parole, and during the court hearing Monday, Payton was read an absconder warrant from the Arkansas Department of Corrections alleging that he had violated terms of his parole.

Because of the prior felonies, Pine Bluff District Judge John Kearney set a $25,000 cash-only bond for Payton after ruling prosecutors had probable cause to charge him with theft by receiving and being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Payton said he would hire his own attorney and was told to come back to court Sept. 10.